Mystery as dozens of sick, starved pelicans flood wildlife center after ... trends now
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Droves of sick and starved pelicans have been coming into a local wildlife center in Huntington Beach, California as a result of a 'mass stranding.'
In the last month alone, more than 80 brown pelicans have been brought to the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center, with only 31 surviving.
Debbie McGuire, executive director of the center, said the amount of sick birds that have been brought in has rescue teams concerns.
The center is also starting to run out of supplies as more birds are brought in by people around the region, running out of 500 pounds of fish in just the past week, she said.
Although McGuire said she could not pinpoint a reason behind the sudden influx of starving birds, she said she thinks it has something to do with their food.
Pictured: Lindsey Campbell, left, a senior wildlife tech at Wildlife Care Center, uses a large feeding syringe to feed a brown pelican that was starving and badly dehydrated
Pictured: Brown pelicans that were starving recuperate at the Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach
Only a handful of pelicans are expected to be receiving treatment at the center, come late spring, but this year is an anomaly.
The last time a pelican stranding occurred was 2022 when hundreds of pelicans were brought to the center for treatment, the epidemic stretching the state's entire coast line.
Pelicans can dive around six feet deep to catch fish.
'What we know
